Green Bay Reporter

A win in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election by candidate Janet Protasiewicz could jeopardize the scholarships of 3,977 Brown County students studying in 17 private schools.

A Green Bay Reporter analysis of Wisconsin Department of Instruction data found 3,977 students receive scholarships for private schools. These vouchers could be on the chopping block if candidate Janet Protasiewicz wins the April 4 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

Protasiewicz is supported by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, whose President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen has gone on record saying “private school vouchers…are bleeding our public schools dry” and that removing them would be a priority in a liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Clint Bolick, an Arizona State Supreme Court Justice who has represented Wisconsin school choice advocates, commented to the MacIver Institute that there will be "renewed attacks in court" to declare the school choice program unconstitutional if Protasiewicz is elected.

"If Left-wing extremists succeed in taking over the Wisconsin Supreme Court, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable students will be at risk of losing access to the school of their choice," Brian Burch, CEO of Catholic Vote, told Green Bay Reporter. "We cannot afford to turn back the clock to the days when only wealthy families had the option of sending their children to schools they choose."

Wisconsin taxpayers fund $10.8 million in vouchers for 3,977 Brown County students attending private schools.

Brown County has the fifth highest number of students receiving vouchers in Wisconsin.

Across the state, private school students received slightly more than $444 million in vouchers in 2022-23, compared to the $17.9 billion spent on the public K-12 school system in 2021-22.

School	Type	City	County	# Students	Funding
Green Bay Area Catholic Education South	Catholic	Green Bay	Brown	796	$692,078
Notre Dame de la Baie Academy	Catholic	Green Bay	Brown	727	$2 million
Green Bay Area Catholic Education East	Catholic	Green Bay	Brown	683	$3.2 million
Green Bay Area Catholic Education West	Catholic	Green Bay	Brown	501	$893,654
Pilgrim Lutheran School	Lutheran	Green Bay	Brown	234	$566,933
Saint Mark Lutheran School	Lutheran	Green Bay	Brown	191	$640,332
Saint John Paul II Classical School	Catholic	Green Bay	Brown	152	$458,326
Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran High School	Lutheran	Green Bay	Brown	148	$370,845
Saint Paul Lutheran School	Lutheran	Green Bay	Brown	134	$461,088
Green Bay Trinity Lutheran School	Lutheran	Green Bay	Brown	128	$436,748
Morrison Zion Lutheran School	Lutheran	Greenleaf	Brown	69	$209,975
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School	Catholic	Pulaski	Brown	63	$290,605
Saint John Evangelical Lutheran School	Lutheran	Wrightstown	Brown	55	$62,993
Saint Clare Catholic School	Catholic	Wrightstown	Brown	38	$146,983
Green Bay Adventist Junior Academy	Adventist	Green Bay	Brown	34	$195,115
Zion Lutheran School	Lutheran	Wayside	Brown	19	$159,581
All Saints Grade School	Catholic	Denmark	Brown	five	$41,995